A. Technical Field
Provided is a paint roller for applying paint and other paint-like materials to walls, ceilings, floors and other substrates. Also provided is a method for assembling a paint roller.
B. Description of Related Art
It is well known in the paint industry to provide painters with access to paint rollers which can be used to more efficiently paint over large surface areas on walls, ceilings, floors and other substrates. It is known, for example, to provide a paint roller having a handle; a wire frame having at least two longitudinal portions, three bends and two horizontal portions; a rotatable and cylindrical cage assembly positioned over one end of the wire frame which includes various mechanical components allowing attachment of the cage assembly to the wire frame and rotation of the cage assembly relative to the wire frame; and a cylindrical paint holder cover may be positioned by sliding over the cage assembly.
While many known paint rollers used in the paint industry work well for their intended purposes, they have several disadvantages. First, not all paint roller handles are capable of being connected to extension poles and extension pole connection adapters provided from different manufacturers. Another disadvantage is that many paint rollers are manufactured to incorporate swedges into the wire frame. These swedges are often used in conjunction with washers to hold the roller portion of a paint roller assembly in its proper position along the wire frame. The use of swedges in paint rollers for this purpose provides several disadvantages. First, it requires the use of additional components to secure the cage to the wire frame which adds expense and complexity to the cage assembly and the manufacturing and assembly process. Second, the swedge and washer combination can result in a significant amount of play between the cage assembly and the wire frame which can adversely affect the efficiency and quality of the painting process. Furthermore, the presence of swedges on the wire frame can scrape against the side of a container as the roller assembly is being used causing dried paint to fall into the paint held in the container. This dried paint, when mixed with the paint to be applied and picked up by the paint roller, can result in unsightly aberrations or deformations in the paint coating that is applied to a wall or other substrate. Another disadvantage of current paint rollers is that paint roller covers have a tendency to become disengaged from or “walk off” of the cage assembly as the user applies paint with the paint roller.
What is needed is an apparatus that can solve these problems and provide a universal connection mechanism for various types of extension poles and extension pole adapters, an apparatus that provides a more efficient, effective and economical way to engage a roller portion to the wire frame of a paint roller without the disadvantages of using a swedge to accomplish such an engagement; and an apparatus that can more effectively secure a paint roller cover to the roller portion of a paint roller.